In the churchyard, north-west side, near the gate

Noted by Whitaker (1816, I, 401), in its current position. The present church at Rastrick was built in the late eighteenth century (Pevsner 1967, 397). Lister (1904–5, 293), in a discussion of the earlier church (described as a chapel) which was pulled down in the early seventeenth century, mentions a manuscript preserved at the church which stated '... there stood in the street nigh to the chapel door one cross of stone, very finely graven with fretted work'.

St Matthew

Very worn; much of the decoration recorded by Collingwood (1915a, 231–3, figs. on 232) is now very difficult to read.

A complete cross-base, square at the bottom, tapering on all faces but more on the north and south sides.

A (south): There is a double roll moulding at the top of the face and the angles are rounded. Within this the face is framed by an inner roll moulding. The decoration consists of a bush-scroll with fine, wiry, but rounded tendrils, which is centred and stretches the full height of the panel. The stem has a root, but it is not bulbous as Collingwood drew it (1915a, figs. on 232), and the detached snake-like feature below it also recorded by him is not present. Rather there seems to be a base or container for the root, with lesser tendrils drooping on either side, and either terminating in or reaching what looks like mini baluster shafts supporting the lower volutes of the scroll. The stem terminates at the top in a form akin to a stepped capital, still just visible. There are three volutes of the plant on each side, all terminating in large tri-lobed flowers with scooped or rather double-outlined petals, but all spring from the root, the side stems dividing almost immediately at a bulbous node into two volutes, one turning upwards and one down to fill the lower spaces of the frame. The second volute on each side similarly divides to form the upper volute. Collingwood'showed bulbous nodes at each divide, but they actually seem to be plain with no swelling: however, there are tri-lobed buds or leaf-flowers in each spandrel, those best-preserved apparently double-outlined. The stem has two further nodes above the base: the first, between the two lower volutes, produces a tendril close to the stem on either side, both of which terminate in a tight spiral or single bud. The second, between the two central volutes, has a similar but smaller tendril on the right: the corresponding area on the left is very worn and possibly damaged.

B (east): On this face Collingwood'showed a similar bush-scroll, and in fact the organisation appears to be similar to that on face A, except that the two upper volutes on each side spring from a common node high on the central stem, while the lower two appear to start from the root. These volutes also terminate in triple scooped leaves as on face A, and there are tri-lobed leaves in the outer spandrels, and as on A there are further tendrils close to the stem, the upper springing from the same node as the two upper volutes, the lower pair shorter and tighter, just above the lower volutes. Collingwood drew an almost fleur-de-lys-like terminal to the top of the stem, but it actually terminates in a cross with lobed terminals and a lobed centre.

C (north): The fine wiry interlace on this face is quite well preserved, relative to face B, although the carving is now so shallow that the interlacing of the strands could be missed at first glance. The panel is divided vertically by a roll moulding which does not, as Collingwood's drawing may suggest, feed into the vertical arrangement of angular interlace at the top right. On the left, from the top, are two registers of closed-circuit pattern B with an added twist in the diagonals between the registers, and following a similar twist, one register of half pattern E. One diagonal strand terminates abruptly in the lower left corner, the other feeds into the interlace on the other side of the vertical panel divide, while one strand of the pattern E knot possibly becomes the panel divider. On the right, from the top, is one register of half pattern E, overlapping with the first of three loose rings, linked by lacing diagonal strands.

D (west): There is no trace of decoration on this face, and in fact it appears to have been dressed smooth, within an outer rolled border.

E (top): A rectangular socket is cut into the top, with a flat base but damaged edges. This measures 33 x 27 cm (13 x 10.5 in), and is 22 cm (8.7 in) deep.

The obvious parallels to this piece are the decorated cross-bases, Hartshead 1 (Ills. 310–14) and Birstall 1 (Ills. 69–73), all in the same area (Chap. IV, p. 43). The open wiry interlace, with its vertical parallel patterns on face C, is a feature of layout shared with Hartshead 1B (Ill. 311). It also shares a pattern, closed-circuit pattern B, with a shaft from Thornhill, no. 5C (Ill. 745). Like Hartshead and Birstall, the interlace and linked pattern are combined with forms of bush-scroll on other faces. Here at Rastrick, the scroll is less stylised than Birstall, but simplified in relation to that at Hartshead, and is also, like Birstall, uninhabited. It has, however, features in common with Dewsbury 7 (Ills. 212, 214).

Ninth century

Whitaker 1816, I, 401; Haigh 1856–7, 531; Pettigrew 1864, 311; Turner 1883, 100; Allen and Browne 1885, 354; Allen 1890, 293, 295; Allen 1891, 229, fig. 1; Brooke 1902, 233; Lister 1904–5, 293; Morris 1911, 46, 394, 549; Collingwood 1912, 120, 130; Collingwood 1915a, 231–3, 268, 275, 283, figs. on 232; Collingwood 1915b, 334–5; Collingwood 1927, 175, fig. 214; Collingwood 1929, 40, figs. on 39; Elgee and Elgee 1933, 220–2; Kendrick 1941a, 18; Mee 1941, 295; Pevsner 1959, 21, 397; Faull 1981, 215; Heginbottom 1988, 2; Sidebottom 1994, 91–5, 150, 263, and pls.; Tweddle et al. 1995, 24, 266; Sidebottom 1997, 47

None